After Friday’s game against the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers now only have two games left on their preseason schedule.
Coming off a Western Conference Finals appearance, L.A. has reloaded its roster with additional firepower, aiding LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ workload through the regular season. Thus far, the new pieces have shown to be effective through four games.
However, a question that fans are waiting to be answered is who will take the fifth and final starting spot. Head coach Darvin Ham has not been willing to reveal who that player is, but Taurean Prince has started both preseason games that James has played.
It seems that there may be traction in Prince securing the starting spot, however, a caveat is Jarred Vanderbilt’s injury and if Ham is simply having Prince occupy that spot during his absence. But, Austin Reaves spoke highly of Prince’s fit in the starting lineup and what he’s brought to the team as a whole.
“One thing about TP is he’s an ultimate team guy. You can tell from his previous team what he’s about so obviously getting him is a big addition just because he does all the dirty (work). He plays defense, he knocks down 3s, but at the end of the day, he’s a great teammate and he can really shoot the ball. You can’t leave him. With the talent that we have on this team, you kind of have to pick what to give up and if they are gonna give Taurean open shots, we’ll take that every day.”
Prince’s preseason debut was not ideal after fouling out in 13 minutes, but he has seemingly bounced back. When L.A. signed the forward, his size, defense and 3-point shooting were something that the team needed after getting swept in the Conference Finals.
On Friday, Prince had another solid outing scoring 17 points in 20 minutes, shooting 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3. With only two preseason games remaining, the finale on Oct. 19 against the Phoenix Suns may serve as a preview of what the Opening Night rotation will look like.
Rui Hachimura has come off the bench in the games James has played, so Ham may have settled on him come off the bench to begin the regular season. The other option for the starting spot is Vanderbilt and time will tell if he plays another preseason game to challenge Prince.
Prince explains how he learned to thrive off-ball
Heading into a new situation with the Lakers, Prince has to learn to play alongside James and Anthony Davis. Thus far, it has looked great, and Prince shared how he learned to be effective off-ball in his career.
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